Golf balls



March 25 1957 l.. F. MucclNo 2,786,684

GOLF BALLS Filed Dec. 22, 1953 TWM/MMV 294C ATTORNE YS myn/rola UnitedStates Patent O GOLF BALLS Louis F. Muccino, Rye, N. Y.

Application December 22, 1953, Serial No. 399,714

3 Claims. (Cl. 273227) This invention relates to golf balls.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending applicationSerial No. 384,421, filed October 6, 1953, and since abandoned.

The characteristics and construction of modern golf 'ballsv arecontrolled to a large extent by the rules of the official organizationswhich govern and control tournament play such as the United States GolfAssociation and the Professional Golfers Association, as well as by thehabits, customs, preferences and prejudices of large numbers ofexperienced golf players.

Thus, by oicial rule the diameter of a tournament golf ball may not beless than 1.68 inches, and must weigh less than 1.62 ounces. Experiencehas shown that the nearer balls conform to these minimum and maximumlimitations of diameter and weight, respectively, the longer theirflight, `assuming always that balls are of generally similarconstruction and are tested under identical conditions. Thus, a ballhaving a diameter of 1.68 inches which weighs only 1.50 ounces would,when tested under identical conditions, travel less distance than aballvof equal diameter and of similar construction which weighs themaximum permissible weight of 1.62 ounces. Consequently golf ballmanufacturers, always seeking to produce balls which will travel theymaximum distance, design their balls to appro-ach these minimum andmaximum limitationsas closely as possible. A ball of maximum weight andminimum diameter has a specific gravity of approximately 1.25. And sincethe specific gravity of both rubber and balata which are the principalconstituents of golf balls is less than l, it is obvious thatconstituents of higher specific gravity must somehow be incorporated inthe ball if it is to achieve maximum permissible weight.

When we consider the requirements of golf players, the primary demand,of course, is for a long ball. Other thingsbeing equah-aball which willconsistently travel a few yards further. its competitor will always bechosen. Eal'ance, .i..e. the uniform distribution of weightw'itihrespe'ct tothe -geornetriclcenter ofthe 'ba-ll, isalso important.An unbalanced ball will tend to deviate from the intended line ofiiight, giving the effect of a slice or hool even though the ball mayhave been hit accurately. But when we depart from the factor ofdistance, which is accurately measurable, and the factor of balance,which is easily determinable, we approach a region of requirements whichare somewhat mysterious in character since they are recognizable only-inthe actual performance of a ball and testable only by the individualgolfers reactions when the ball is driven. We refer to suchcharacteristics or qualities as click, i. e. the sharp sound of theimpact of the club head against the ball, feeh i. e. that which thegolfer feels when the ball is struck, and lift or rise which has to dowith the trajectory of the ball. A ball which rises properly follows asomewhat higher trajectory than otherwise. There is, so far, no adequatescientific explanation of these qualities, or of the constructionalcharacteristics which produce them. But they are known to everyexperienced golfer and greatly-influence the selection of balls.

The problem of the manufacturer of golf balls is to produce a ball whichfalls withinl the official requirements as to diameter and weight, andwhich achievesV maximum ight within those limitations. Since thisimplies using the maximum permissible weight, the problem is complex,because experience has provenv that the addition of the constituents ofhigh specific gravity required to attain maximum weight almostinevitably affects adversely some other desired quality such as balance,click, feel, or rise.

lt is an object of the present invention to providel a solution for thisproblem.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes ofillustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, inl whichk thefigure is a vertical cross section through a golf ball.

ln the following specification, the usual terminology of theindustry'will be adopted and used. as follows:

A golf ball willy be defined as a complete, finished ball, ready forplay, comprising a balata (or gutta percha) cover, windings of rubberthread, or tape, or both, and a core'. The cover is usually coated withpaint, enamel or lacquer.

A center will be defined as a golf ball from which the cover has beenremoved.

A core will be defined as an object, usually spherical, about which thewindings are wound. In the case of a hollow core', the wall of the corewhich surrounds the cavity will be referred to as the core envelope.

In the past various expedients have been adopted as Ya meansvofincreasing the specific gravity and weightof golf balls, and otherexpedients have been adopted in an effort to satisfy one or more of theother requirements demanded by golfers. At various times and in varioustypes of balls powdered constituents of high specific gravity such aslitharge, barium sulphate, zinc oxide and the like have beenincorporated in the cover, or in the rubber threadfor tape, or in thecore, or in all three.

The core of a golf ball is almost Valways made of rubber, sometimessolid and sometimes hollow. When hollow, the Cavity has sometimes beenfilled with a solid object of. high specic gravity such as steel or leadto provide the desired. increase inweight. At other times the cavity hasbeen filled with liquid, paste, or gelatinous material, and frequentlyweighting constituents have been added to er incorporated in the liquid,paste, or gel'atinous material to provide thedesired increase inweigh-t.

Accordingto the. present invention I utilize a hollow core of resilient,elastic material such as rubber and `i .fill the coreV cavity withamultiplicity of discretemetall'ic particles ranging in size frommetallic powder to small metal particles. Because of the high specificgravity of lead, I prefer to use metallic lead in the form of leadpowder or in the form of small lead pellets, such, for example, asspherical lead shot. Preferably the volume of the cavity is calculatedto be just sufficient to hold the metal required to supply theadditional weight. A cavity having a diameter of from 3ft to 1/2 willordinarily be found satisfactory to accommodate sufficient metallicparticles to give the desired increase in weight, the exact diameterbeing dependent on whether the core envelope or any other part of theball contains weighting material. if metal particles of lower specificgravity are used, a cavity of Somewhat larger volume will be required.

it is my theory that the use of a large number of small discretemetallic particles permits the core to be deformed when the ball isstruck in much the same manner that a liquid filled core may bedeformed. There.

fore, the use of a few metallic particles of large size which would tendto lock themselves in lixed position within the cavity is precluded. Ingeneral, at least a dozen particles are required, and in using thephrase a multiplicity of particles, I intend to indicate a nurnber inexcess of this. Indeed, for best results, I prefer to use lead particlesranging in size from 100 mesh powder to spherical lead shot having adiameter not eX- ceeding .080 in which case the number of particlesgreatly exceeds twelve.

The wall thickness of the core envelope may be varied, as desired,depending on several considerations. For best results, I prefer to use arelatively thin wall, as from to 9j/46, so as to keep the diameter ofthe core as small as possible, thus increasing the amount of woundrubber tape or thread in the wall. However, if the diameter of thecavity is 7/16, which l have used successfully, and if the wallthickness of the core envelope is Ms, which l have also usedsuccessfully, the diameter of the core will be only 11/15. Many golfball winding machines are incapable of winding so small a core. In suchcases, the wall thickness of the core envelope may be increased, asnecessary, for winding purposes. Other factors which may inuence thewall thickness of the core envelope are the matter of securing adequateadhesion of the two hemispherical cups of which the core envelope iscustomarily formed, and the matter of securing sullicient rigidity ofthe core, by freezing, to permit winding of the tape or thread thereon.The thinner the wall of the core envelope, the less rigidity is impartedby freezing, and in some cases, the wall thickness must be increased tosecure the desired rigidity.

In the preferred form of the invention the metal particles are insertedalone in the cavity, and no liquid, paste or other Substance i'sincluded for it appears to be advantageous to have the intersticesbetween the particles filled with air which is compressible rather thanwith an incompressible liquid. However, in some cases, the use of asmall quantity of liquid such as water which may easily be frozen may bedesirable as -a means of obtaining a rigid core for winding withoutincreasing the wall thickness of the core envelope. The use of suchliquid also has some lubricating value which aids the relative move-.

ment of the particles when the ball is deformed when struck. In allcases, however, the metallic particles are in contact with and supporteach other within the cavity. They are not suspended in or supported byliquid and the quantity of liquid, if any, is less than sucient to fillthe cavity.

Referring to the drawings, the rubber core envelope 1 is here shown ashaving a relatively thin Wall. The core cavity 2 is filled with amultiplicity of metallic particles 3, preferably lead shot having adiameter of approximately .04.

The core is completely encased by a thick layer 4 of rubber tape orthread which is wound around the core under rather heavy tension inaccordance with usual practice. The resulting center is then covered bya cover 5 of balata or gutta percha which is molded under heat andpressure in accordance with usual practice.

I am aware of Knight U. S. Patent No. 1,192,831 which discloses what isfrequently known as a liquid center ball in which a spherical rubber bagat the center of the ball is lled with liquid. The bag also contains oneor more balls which are free to move about in the y liquid contained inthe playing ball and which balls have a specific gravity greater thansaid liquid. One of the objects of having the ball or balls of thepatent free to move about in the liquid`is to increase the back-spineffect, and freedom to move is the sine qua non without which thiseffect cannot be increased. The patented ball is, therefore, diierentboth 'structurally and in function from thc ball ofthe presentinvention.

l am also aware of Evans et al. U. S. Patent No. 1,530,820 whichdiscloses a ball having a center consisting of a spherical rubberenvelope containing powdered metallic lead distributed throughout aliquid (a glueglycerine compound) of such high viscosity as to maintainthe ead in suspension. In the patented ball, the liquid medium supportsthe lead particles, and lsaid particles are not in contact with eachother and do not support each other within the cavity.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modiiied andembodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A golf ball of not less than 1.68 outside diameter comprising, incombination, a spherical hollow core envelope having a cavity therein,the outside diameter of said hollow core envelope being not greater than13/16, a layer of rubber strands wound under tension around said coreenvelope to provide a center of not less than 1.5", a cover of nogreater than usual thickness surrounding said layer of rubber strands,whereby the thickness of said layer of rubber strands lying between thecore envelope and cover is greater than usual, and a multiplicity ofdiscrete metallic lead particles filling the cavity of said hollow coreenvelope, said particles being in contact with and supporting each otherwithin the cavity, the quantity of lead particles in said cavity beingsuicient to bring the total weight of the ball to approximately themaximum permissible weight of 1.62 ounces.

2. A golf ball according to claim l in which said particles arespherical lead pellets.

3. A golf ball according to claim 1 in which the wall thickness of saidhollow core envelope is not greater than M3 and the diameter of saidcavity is not in excess of 7/16?.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,192,831 Knight July 25, 1916 2,264,604 Young Dec. 2, 1941 2,376,084Radford May 15, 1945 2,542,356 Radford Feb. 20, 1951

